Related Content

The board voted Monday morning to put a 5.5 mil levy on the ballot this November. 3.5 mills would go toward operating expenses with 2 mills for permanent improvements.

On both sides of the levy, much of the money will go toward security and technology improvements. There will be additional security staff hired – bumping the number from 3 currently to a total of 10.

Buildings will get additional money spent on bricks and mortar improvements to improve security, too.

There will be improvements in technology infrastructure in the buildings, with additional tech staff hired.

A portion of the money – 1 mill, or about 2.8 million dollars – is not currently earmarked. That money would likely be spent in the classroom, with discussions during today’s board meeting focusing on offering additional learning opportunities for high school students and more access to subjects like art, music and physical education at the elementary level.

What would the levy mean to a home owner in the Lakota district? The board says the additional cost would be $16 per month in new taxes for every $100,000 in home value. It would raise nearly $14,000,000 in the first year.

School board president Joan Powell told WLWT News Five’s Andrew Setters that it’s important to give voters an accounting of what the money will be going towards – rather than simply telling them what would be lost if a levy fails.

“I think the last few levy attempts have been rather vague and people don’t know what their money is going to be going for so they don’t know what they’re voting for,” Powell said.

Dividing the levy between operating expenses and capital improvements was done intentionally too, to send the message to voters that they money will not all be spent on staffing.

“There have been people, who, when there’s a levy say ‘It’s all just to give to employees,’ so we want to make it clear that a good portion of this is simply going to be used on building maintenance,” Powell said.

Libby Willms is the mother to three Lakota students and she said she believes the current levy plan is one that voters can support.

She pointed to changes in the district’s finances since the last levy defeat – a reduction of nearly $20 million in spending per year over the last three years – as a sign the district has made improvements.

But she believes the district now needs more funding because “those cuts now have gotten to the point where it’s affecting the education of our children,” Willms said.